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Bruins Edge Panthers in Game 5, Fend Off Elimination

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Jim Bay | Last updated 5/14/24

The Boston Bruins defeated the Florida Panthers 2-1 to take Game 5 and avoid elimination in the second round of their 2024 Stanley Cup Playoff series.

Morgan Geekie opened the scoring for the Bruins in the first period when he backhanded a shot past Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

After dominating the first 25 minutes of the game, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice gave a fiery speech to his team during a TV timeout in the second period. The Panthers responded shortly afterward when Sam Reinhart wristed a shot past Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman. Reinhart (4 goals-1 assist-5 points in 8 games) recorded his fourth career goal in potential clinching games to pass Aleksander Barkov (3-4—7 in 8 GP) and Bill Lindsay (3-2—5 in 4 GP) for sole possession of second place on the franchise’s all-time list. Carter Verhaeghe (6-5—11 in 8 GP) ranks first.

Four minutes later, Charlie McAvoy responded with a goal. In what has become a bit of a theme in this series, the Panthers challenged the goal due to goaltender interference, but the goal was upheld as the NHL operations center deemed that there was no goaltender interference.

Tie: broken@NHLBruins lead: RESTORED!#NHLBruins | #StanleyCup
pic.twitter.com/SbeVjtUSNd
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) May 15, 2024

McAvoy (1-9—10 in 15 GP) recorded his first career goal in potential elimination games. He tied Zdeno Chara (2-8—10 in 25 GP) and Andrew Ference (2-8—10 in 11 GP) for the third-most points in potential elimination games by Bruins defensemen.

Swayman had 28 saves in the victory, while Bobrovsky had 26 saves for the Panthers.

The Bruins forced a Game 6 after facing a 3-1 series deficit for the eighth time in franchise history. Boston fell in Game 6 during each series except for the 2009 conference semifinals and 2008 conference quarterfinals.

News and Notes

Brad Marchand did not play against the Panthers in Game 5. The Bruins captain participated in the morning skate but missed his second straight game. He was slow to get back to the bench after he took a hit from Panthers forward Sam Bennett at 3:38 of the first period in a 6-2 loss in Game 3 on Friday. He played the rest of the first and second periods but did not return for the third.

Entering play, the road team has had 32 wins, which is tied for the fourth-most at this stage of a postseason (60 GP) in NHL history. The only playoff years to feature more were 2023 (35), 2012 (35), and 1987 (34), a trend the Bruins continued with their Game 5 victory.

The two teams will meet for Game 6 on Friday, May 17, at TD Garden Arena in Boston.

This article first appeared on The Hockey Writers and was syndicated with permission.

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